


Rock Show

by iwaizoomin



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Angst (if u squint), Bassist!Tsukishima, Drinking and Weed, Drummer!Tendou, Fluff, Guitarist!Bokuto, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, Vocalist!Kuroo, will i post smut? maybe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:08:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24689635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwaizoomin/pseuds/iwaizoomin
Summary: "Did you see that? The way he looked at me?" Bokuto said to his bandmates as they disappeared behind the stage."Maybe he looked at you because that's what people at a concert usually do when someone's performing," replied Tsukishima, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with the front of his t-shirt."Don't discourage him, Tsukki.  I believe in love at first sight," Kuroo slapped Bokuto on the back, showing his support for his best friend.Bokuto was overwhelmed with the noise of the crowd cheering from the pit.  He allowed his thoughts to invade his mind for about the hundredth time tonight.  It may be stupid, but he felt as though him and that gorgeous, raven-haired boy in front of the stage had shared a moment.  The rush of adrenaline coursing through his body forced him to decide, he was going to find that boy after the show.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 91
Kudos: 286





	1. Getting the Band Back Together

**Author's Note:**

> this is me coming back to my haikyuu!! and fanfiction phase after nearly 4 years... truly missed it. hope you guys enjoy! all feedback is welcome :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy!

Bokuto had been staring at the blank document on his laptop for the past 30 minutes. By now, he knew the prompt for his essay by heart. It's just the actual content of the essay that refused to come to his mind. 

I'm sure taking my eyes off of this damn screen for a while will give me some inspiration, he thought to himself. 

He had been home from volleyball practice for a few hours now, still sitting in his dirty clothes. Bokuto knew, from the moment he graduated high school, that he would continue to play volleyball in college. It was his passion after all. That and, well, music. He hadn't played with the band in months. Nothing traumatic happened that forced him to quit, of course. Him and the other bandmates just didn't have the time to practice much anymore. They were all still very close, visiting each other rather often. Bokuto, Kuroo, and Tendou, being the oldest members of the band, had met three years ago and have been inseparable since that day. The three of them had met Tsukishima when he came to the school for his first year of college. While Tsukishima's often cool and uncaring personality would drive any normal person away, the men had taken a liking to the blonde and upon finding out he could play the bass guitar, they decided that it was destiny. 

\- - - 

Bokuto hadn't grown up knowing that he wanted to be in a band. In fact, he hadn't even picked up an instrument until his senior year of high school. He was too preoccupied with volleyball that he couldn't find the time to become a famous musician. It was only when he went to his first concert that the piercing chords of the electric guitar echoing throughout the stadium changed his perception of music forever. 

He never bothered to get any professional guitar lessons. His first guitar was gifted to him towards the end of his senior year. Bokuto had promised himself that he wouldn't put the gift to waste and he would teach himself to play until he was the greatest guitarist in Tokyo. 

Of course that mindset only lasted a few months. Bokuto wasn't exactly the type to go through on his promises. Not promises to himself at least. That was fine and all. He played for his own enjoyment every so often when he got bored. That was only until he ran into Kuroo and Tendou talking about some local band on the first ever day of his college experience. There was something so passionate about the way Tendou had talked to the cat-looking man about music. It had reminded Bokuto of the way he often spoke about volleyball to his friends. The two men had noticed him eavesdropping on the conversation and their eyes lit up. 

"Have you heard about the local band playing tonight? They're called the... wait what is it?" the red-head had said.  
"It's something like 'Of Owls and Crows' or something, I think," the spiky haired man next to him had replied. 

Bokuto was a generally sociable and spirited guy. He took his chance with the two men and said, "I haven't heard of them, but I would definitely be down to go."

"Great, great! It starts at 7. Guess we'll see you there!" the tall black-haired man smiled brightly at him. "Name's Kuroo by the way, here, gimme your phone a second."

Bokuto opened up to his contacts and handed Kuroo his phone. "Bokuto," he replied. 

"Good shit, dude! We'll catch you later. Oh yeah, I'm Tendou," said the one with shockingly red hair. "Add my contact in there too, Kuroo."

The men said goodbye and went their separate ways. Bokuto opened his phone again to see two new contacts: "Kurooooo (cat emoji)" and "Tendy". He grinned and put his phone back in his pocket. Little did he know that that interaction would be the start of the most legendary college rock band in existence. 

\- - - 

Three years ago. Bokuto, Kuroo, and Tendou had been friends for three years. Tsukishima had hardly tolerated the three obnoxious men for a year. It was crazy to think that Bokuto wouldn't be who he was right now, sitting in his apartment, if he hadn't gone to that concert with Tendou and Kuroo. And oh the times that followed that night. It wasn't long after that the men expressed a mutual interest in starting a small, informal band. 

What a coincidence it had been that Bokuto played the guitar, Kuroo sang and wrote, and Tendou played the drums. Together, they actually brought a lot of attention to their "small, informal band". They played gigs at local concerts and parties for months. To be fair, the money they made was pretty good too. After they had forced Tsukishima to join the band, they gained more fame and their relatively small fan base was surprised when the four men suddenly stopped. They stopped writing songs, stopped playing gigs, just stopped with the music.

Often times, Bokuto thought back to these fond memories and missed it. He hadn't really discussed getting the band back together with the others. He knew they had busy schedules as well as him. Since the band had stopped playing, the four men had plenty of free time. Bokuto wondered if they all shared the same thought, maybe we could try again?

That was enough day-dreaming about the good old days for now, Bokuto thought. Time to get back to my essay and write some shit down so I don't submit it late again. Just as he was about to write his first word, his phone rang. 

He sighed and he pressed answer. "What's up, dude?"

"Tendou and Tsukki are at my place. It's important business. Come over, I'll see you in 5!" Kuroo sounded eager as he hung up. 

What's this gonna be about? Bokuto wondered as he went to his room to grab a jacket. Band business?


	2. Reunited

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> double chapter because i'm feeling motivated af. please leave kudos and comments it is much appreciated!

Kuroo was lucky that Bokuto could easily walk to his apartment. He would've gotten his ass kicked if Bokuto had to drive over on such short notice. 

After grabbing a jacket and throwing on a random pair of sneakers, Bokuto left his apartment to go see his bandmates. He checked the time on his phone. 11:52 pm. Fuck, why had Kuroo called him over so late? He had an essay to write that was due tomorrow. Maybe he'd pay Tsukishima to write the majority of it, or all of it. 

When Bokuto reached Kuroo's apartment five minutes later he knocked on the door, letting himself in anyways. Kuroo always kept the door unlocked, an awful habit he had picked up from Bokuto himself. The two 21 year olds should've had a little more responsibility at that point, but it was fine. No one broke into either of their apartments yet. Kuroo didn't even live alone. Him and his boyfriend, Kenma, had been living together for a few months. Shortly after they started dating, Kuroo asked Kenma to move in with him, and surprisingly enough, Kenma had said yes. Kenma was rather antisocial and shy around everyone except his closest friends. Kuroo definitely could be held responsible for bringing his boyfriend out of his shell a little. Bokuto couldn't lie to himself, he was envious of their relationship. 

When Bokuto entered the apartment, Kuroo was seated on the couch, Kenma on his lap. Tsukishima sat on a chair across from the couple, yelling at Tendou who was seemingly attempting to make something in the kitchen. 

"Don't go blowing up my fucking microwave!" Kuroo yelled at the man in the kitchen. 

"I'm not going to!" he continued opening drawers everywhere. "Damnit I'll just get a beer. Boku, you want something?" 

Bokuto looked up at Tendou who was opening Kuroo's mini fridge to find his beer stash.

"Yeah man throw me something," he replied, earning the toss of a drink.

"Alright ladies. I have gathered you all here tonight," Kuroo started, "because I have an amazing offer for you all!"

The room remained silent, waiting for him to continue. 

"So, I was thinking last night. You all know I don't do a lot of that," with this Tsukishima and Kenma exchanged knowing glances. "Anyways, I was laying in bed, after passionately making out with my gorgeous boyfri-" Kenma hit his boyfriend in the arm. "You get the idea... I was thinking that, well, we could maybe start the band up again. I miss you guys."

"KUROOOOOO!" Bokuto cried, "You won't believe it, but I was thinking the same thing!" He pretended to wipe a fake tear from his face. "I miss you assholes and I miss getting super fucked up after playing at crazy frat parties!"

"Obviously we would have to put a lot more thought into this," Tendou began, "but, my schedule has been pretty clear lately. Volleyball practice hasn't been kicking my ass and I do miss the band."

Tendou and Bokuto were on the same volleyball team. Tendou had joined after complaining to Bokuto that he was getting out of shape and wanted to join a college sport. He had plenty of experience with volleyball, so Bokuto encouraged him to join. Kuroo also played a sport. His sport was soccer. The man had been playing since he was 5 and was the captain of his team. 

Tsukishima was the only member who remained silent, clearly deep in thought. He didn't play volleyball or soccer. People would think that someone tall and athletic would play basketball or something else, but Tsukishima had picked up tennis as soon as he came to college. However, the tennis season never interfered with any band meetings. 

The three others waited for some kind of confirmation that Tsukishima was in. 

"Why now?" he said suddenly. "We haven't played together in months and all of a sudden the three of you just want to jump right back into it? I really do care about the success of the band and I don't want to see us start right back up again without any sort of plan and have it all fall apart on us."

"Why must you be so negative, Tsukki? Negative!" Kuroo pointed his finger mockingly at the blonde sitting across from him. 

"It's not being negative, idiot. It's me being realistic."

"Hey, hey!" Bokuto intervened. "Now young Tsukki, let's not forget who the founding fathers of our lovely rock band are." he gestured to the three oldest ones in the room. 

"If you guys swear that you will take this completely seriously, I'm in. I want the band back together but I want to see us succeed," Tsukishima sighed. 

"Aww! Precious Tsukks! You're saying you're in? Alright boys, I'm thinking that he's in!" Tendou forced himself into the same chair that Tsukishima was seated in, earning an uncomfortable groan from the younger man. 

Tsukishima stayed silent for a few moments longer before finally glancing at everyone around the room and giving the slightest nod. 

"YESSS!! Reunited at last!" cried Bokuto, standing abruptly and holding his big arms out wide, expecting the others to come in for a huge group hug. Kuroo scooped Kenma up and threw him on top of his shoulders, causing the smaller one to cry out in surprise. Kuroo rushed into his best friend's arms, Kenma still on his shoulders. Tendou followed, running into the hug, nearly knocking them all over. Not surprisingly, only Tsukishima remained, arms crossed in front of his chest as he smiled slightly at the group of idiots (minus Kenma) standing in front of him. 

"Tsukki you simply will not be missing out on this one," Bokuto ran forward, open arms ready to embrace the tall man who was actively trying to avoid him. At last he decided that he didn't have a choice but to give in, allowing the huge ball of muscle and energy to wrap both arms around his slender frame. 

"Okay, I get it," Tsukki struggled to breathe as he was being crushed to death by the owl-like man, "we're back. Now let me go before I push you out that window." 

Bokuto took one quick glance at the window that they were dangerously close to and released Tsukishima. 

"Alright guys, practice starts Monday. You know the time. Don't forget your instruments and don't be late," Kuroo grinned, letting Kenma off of his shoulders finally. "Now get out of my apartment!"


	3. The Second First-Practice

"Testing, testing," Kuroo said into the microphone as he adjusted the stand to reach his height. "Tsukishima is ugly. Testing, testing."

"Kuroo, I will take it upon myself to slam this guitar over your head." 

The day had come. It was Monday, the first official practice of the reunion of the band. Kuroo had arranged for the band to meet at his apartment at 1 o'clock. Tsukishima had, unsurprisingly, showed up exactly on time with Bokuto coming in only a little bit later. Tendou was already almost twenty minutes late.

"I'm going to lose my mind if he doesn't show up in the next thirty secon-" Tsukishima was cut off as Tendou burst into the room, almost completely tearing the door down. 

The man entered the room looking as though he had been thrown down a flight of stairs. Bokuto opened his mouth to ask what the actual fuck happened to him when Tendou began explaining. 

"Okay look, I know what you're all thinking. 'The dickhead comes in twenty minutes late looking like shit and almost rips Kuroo's door out of its hinges. There has to be a good reason as to why he is in this tragic state.' Well, gentlemen, to make a long story short, I woke up late, my car wouldn't start, I had to call Ushijima, he got mad at me, and I told him that I would have sex with him if he drove me over here. So here I am!" 

"Nothing about that surprises me," came a quiet voice emerging from Kuroo's bedroom. The voice belonged to Kenma who looked like he had woken up five minutes ago. 

"You're very sweet, Ken," Tendou faked a heartfelt reply. 

"Good morning darling!" Kuroo went over to kiss his boyfriend. "I'm assuming you don't want to come into the practice room with us when we start?"

"Correct," the smaller man said. "I'll be in our room."

And with that Kenma disappeared again. 

"Let's go!" Bokuto slung his guitar around his shoulder and headed into the practice room. 

The room itself wasn't huge. It was made soundproof, luckily for Kuroo's neighbors. Kuroo's apartment complex was a little off from the rest of the campus. His was certainly larger and nicer than Bokuto's, but Kuroo lived with one other person (not including the couple's cat). Bokuto was content with his apartment. It was cozy, but it wasn't like he spent much time alone there anyways. The man was often crashing at one of his friend's places. It wasn't because he didn't like being alone -he enjoyed his alone time for sure- he just liked to be out and with a group of people. 

Kuroo had already set everything up before the others got there. The speakers were hooked up, microphone set up, and Tendou's drum set was also there. 

"Aw fuck yeah I missed my baby," Tendou ran over to his beloved drums and picked up the sticks laying on the ground. Tsukishima and Bokuto got their instruments hooked up while Tendou played a small solo. 

"I'll get used to it. I haven't played in months anyways," he set his sticks back down and waited until the others were ready. 

"We all good?" Kuroo finally asked. Everyone nodded. 

"Alright, warm-up song. Any suggestions?" 

"The Clash!" Bokuto yelled before Tsukishima had the chance to suggest anything else. 

"Yeah man! Thank you, Bokuto!" Kuroo smiled. "We should all know London Calling because Bokuto made us play that song over a thousand fucking times." Bokuto shot his friend a thumbs-up. 

The room shared nods of agreement and ten seconds later the cat-looking vocalist shouted "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!"

Other than the fact that the four men hadn't properly played together in many months, their first warm-up went better than expected. There was a lot of work to do, but holy shit it felt amazing to be back.

About two hours later, with many breaks in between because Tendou was lazy as hell, Kuroo called an end to the practice, telling them that they would meet again on Wednesday at the same time. Luckily, they all knew each other's schedules pretty well and Kuroo, a respectable leader, arranged every practice to work for all four of them. Bokuto had to admit, as irresponsible as Kuroo was most of the time, there couldn't be a better person to be the lead. 

"You guys done?" Kenma peeked out of the bedroom again.

"Yeah I'm kicking everyone out now," his boyfriend replied. 

"Kenma, as the third member of this household, I have decided that I will be staying a little bit longer because I know how much you enjoy my company," Bokuto wrapped his arms around Kuroo, preparing to jump on his back.

"Actually Sho is the third member of this household," a small smile came across Kenma's face as he scooped up the small ginger cat that was laying at his feet. 

"You know what I mean," Bokuto jumped onto Kuroo's back, nearly killing the taller man. 

"For god's sake, fatass, remove yourself from my back before I can never walk again!"

"FAT? You know I am 110% pure muscle and that is why I attract everyone within 5 miles of me," the owl man responded defensively. 

"Bokuto, you know that is not true. You're attracted to men and women and you have not dated anyone since high school," Tsukishima said, packing up his guitar. 

"That doesn't mean that he isn't the second most gorgeous man alive," Kuroo came to his defense. "Kenma is obviously first." 

"Tsukishima is just upset because he can't talk to guys unless he's shitfaced," Tendou joined in, earning a hit from the blonde next to him.

The three of them verbally harassed Tsukishima until Kuroo finally called an official ending to the gathering. 

"Tendou, Tsukki, out of my apartment at once. Bokuto you can stay if you make ramen for Kenma," Kuroo said, opening the door. 

"Deal! See you later Tendy! Bye Uglyshima!" Bokuto marched into the kitchen, preparing to make Kenma's special ramen.

He began to boil water and chop up green onions as he thought to himself, we've got it this time. We're not letting ourselves down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! please leave any ideas or suggestions in the comments! :)


	4. Apartment Bird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> added a lil kagehina because i wanna start writing in the other ships soon! enjoy!

Flash forward to two months after the first practice. It was the beginning of May, also known as the beginning of the best time of the year to play gigs. In the past, starting around the middle of May was when the band would get invited to play at parties or local concerts practically every weekend. Bokuto and the rest of his bandmates were anxiously waiting on a text that was going to confirm whether or not they would be playing at a frat party that weekend. 

"For the short amount of time we've been practicing together, we sure came a long way. I'm so proud of you guys," Kuroo said to the men sitting in front of the TV as him and Bokuto played video games. Practice had been over for almost a half hour. Kuroo had told them that he talked to his friend Nishinoya about playing at the party he was having on Friday. It was only a Wednesday, so if the green light was given for them to play, they had time to prepare. 

"For real, man! Noya's parties always go hard as fuck so I'll be going whether or not we can play," Tendou got up from the couch to rummage through Kuroo's refrigerator. 

Nishinoya was a year yonger than Bokuto and he lived in a huge frat house with about six other people. Tendou was absolutely right. The parties at that house went insane. The amount of underage drinkers that attended their frequent parties was unbelievable. Bokuto was only just able to legally drink a few months ago, so he didn't have to worry about being fucked over if he was caught blackout drunk at any more parties. There had been quite a few instances in which him and Kuroo had to run from the cops... 

"GUYS! I got a text back! 'u guys can totally play on friday. people r prob gonna start comin at like 8 so get here early to set ur shit up. we've got the alcohol covered. see you bitches then,'" Kuroo read the text from Nishinoya out loud. 

"Tsukki, if you get fucked up to the point where it takes all three of us to haul you out again, we are kicking you out of the band and finding another bassist," Tendou returned from the kitchen and plopped down next to Bokuto. 

"That was one time," Tsukishima awkwardly adjusted his glasses. 

That event was certainly one for the books. Something about seeing the normally composed Tsukishima wasted and sobbing about the extinction of dinosaurs was very pleasant. 

"Well, we're good to go!" Kuroo paused the game and stood up. "Now we need to figure out our setlist. I'm thinking we do our usual originals and covers. Classic mix of punk and hard rock!" 

The men shared words and nods of agreement.

"We'll figure more out tomorrow. I want to go home and take a nap," Tendou yawned and stretched across Tsukishima's legs, getting immediately pushed off.

The band agreed to meet the next day and after saying their goodbyes, Tendou, Tsukishima, and Bokuto headed back to their apartments. 

Bokuto was back in five minutes. As soon as he got inside, he kicked off his shoes, and flung himself down on his bed. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check for any new notifications. He had a few unopened snapchats that he decided he would open later. The most recent one was from Hinata, a friend of his whom he had known since high school. Hinata was 19, two years younger than Bokuto and the same age as Tsukishima. Bokuto clicked on Hinata's snapchat. It was a video of his roommate and boyfriend, Kageyama, trying to catch what looked like a bird flying around their apartment. There were about ten more videos sent after that. Hinata was always one to spam the hell out of everyone's phones. The final video ended with Kageyama chasing him around with the bird wrapped in a towel. Bokuto laughed and sent back a picture of himself, captioning it "tell kags to stop leaving the goddamn window open!!" 

Ever since high school, Hinata had looked up to Bokuto. Hell, he wasn't a great influence or anything, but Hinata once saw Bokuto play volleyball and it inspired him to pick up the sport. Hinata was also on Bokuto and Tendou's team. The three of them always started and they made a great trio. In all honesty, the combined energy of the three men was enough to make their coach want to kill them, but they were all great players. 

After replying to a few more snapchats, Bokuto set his phone on the bedside table. It was only 7 pm, but he was exhausted. Earlier, he made plans to hang out with Hinata since Kageyama wasn't going to be at their place tonight. He finally decided that he would take a quick power nap and then head to Hinata's around 8:30. 

That power nap turned out to be two hours. Bokuto frantically grabbed his phone and shot Hinata a text saying, "fell asleep, b there soon". He got ready as quickly as possible. Even though it was just a casual hang out, Bokuto didn't like to look like shit when he went places. He threw on a pair of jeans that were laying on the floor and his volleyball jacket over a white t-shirt. After taking a quick glance at himself in the mirror, he combed a hand through his bed head, shoved his phone in his pocket, and out the door he went. 

HInata's apartment was about a ten minute drive. Bokuto texted him that he was there, and made his way up the complex to where Hinata was. 

Bokuto did his usual quick double-knock to let Hinata know he was there, in case he hadn't seen his text. After almost a minute with no answer, Bokuto tried the doorknob and found that the door was unlocked. He stepped inside and the small ginger was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was asleep, Bokuto thought. He started over towards the bedroom and was about to open the door when it slammed open and the said ginger ran out of room in only his boxers. Following him was a completely naked Kageyama who held a shoe over his head, threatening to chuck it at the smaller man's head. 

As soon as the two saw Bokuto, they stood completely frozen. Realizing that he was indeed standing with his dick out, Kageyama brushed bright red and sprinted back into the room, slamming the door shut behind him. 

"Sorry about that. Tobio was about to get in the shower when I accidentally pissed him off," a guilty smile spread across Hinata's face. 

"I thought he was supposed to be away..." Bokuto said, still caught off guard by what the fuck had just happened. 

"Yeah," Hinata rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged, "I guess I got the dates messed up or something. Please stay though!" 

"Of course," Bokuto plopped down on the couch. 

"So, Hinata, what the hell happened with the bird?"


	5. Frat Party #1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my favorite ship is tsukkiyama so i'll include a lot of that for this chapter ;)  
> ALSO i know this is literally supposed to be a bokuaka fic... i will get to that and then it will be my main focus i promise i have a plan!  
> i hope you enjoy! thank you for the kudos and pls keep leaving comments i love that shit

"The night has come, boys!" Tendou reached across the sink to grab Kuroo's makeup bag. "I hope you're all ready to tear shit up at this party and then drink until you can't walk!" he said, rummaging through the small black bag to find the single red eyeshadow he usually wore. 

The four men were at Bokuto's apartment getting ready for Nishinoya's party. Kuroo had went over earlier to drop off the band equipment so that they wouldn't have to worry about it later. Bokuto took a look around at his bandmates and they looked pretty fucking amazing.

Tendou was dressed in a plaid skirt with a white tank top in which he drew a smiley face on with a black sharpie. He was going insane with the makeup as he always did. His signature look was a fuck ton of bright red eyeshadow all over his lids and under his eyes with a bit of black eyeliner to darken his lower lash line. He topped the look off with a glossy lip and then proceeded to spike his hair back with the gel he stole from Bokuto. 

"Remember, this is mostly Kenma's makeup, so if he finds any of it missing, I will kill all three of you," Kuroo said, eyeing Tendou about to put the eyeshadow in his pocket. 

Bokuto next looked to Tsukishima, who was sitting down as Kuroo leaned over him, trying to apply some eyeliner to his lower lash line without blinding him. 

"Jesus Kuroo, give me the fucking pencil," Tendou rushed over and grabbed the eyeliner out of his hand before he could permanently blind Tsukishima. 

Tendou proceeded to do Tsukishima's eye makeup flawlessly, blending out the eyeliner on the top a bit so that it gave a smoky effect. Tsukishima wore a black T-shirt with an oversized flannel thrown over it. On the bottom he wore faded ripped jeans and green Old Skool style Vans. 

Bokuto's eyes then wandered to Kuroo. The man was naturally very good-looking, but when he put on a bit of makeup, he somehow looked even better. His makeup was similar to Tendou's with heavy eyeliner that was smoked out and a bit of lip gloss. His outfit consisted of a red T-shirt that Kuroo had cropped and cut the sleeves off of and black skinny jeans. 

The men could all openly admit that Kuroo looked very good in a crop top. 

After admiring the others, Bokuto finished up his own look. He wasn't very skilled with makeup so all he did was smudge a little bit of black eyeshadow and eyeliner on his eyes. His outfit was simply a gray muscle tee with ripped jeans and Dr. Martens. He didn't look incredible or anything compared to the others, but he felt confident. He was ready to have a good night. 

"Boku, may I say that you look extremely sexy?" Kuroo came up to his friend and planted a kiss on his cheek. Bokuto wiped the lipgloss off and laughed. 

"Why thank you. May I say that you look absolutely ravishing yourself?" 

"Hey guys real shit does this skirt make me look like I engage in sexual intercourse with other men?" Tendou approached the group and twirled around so that his skirt flew up a little. 

"Nah man. You look like an exceptionally gorgeous femboy!" Bokuto laughed. 

"Oh good. I didn't want people to see me kissing my sexy boyfriend and think that I liked men," Tendou continued. 

"Huh?! Boyfriend? He finally asked you?" Kuroo was referring to Ushijima, the man that Tendou had been in love with for the past two years, but the two had never put a label on it. 

Tendou grinned at the group. "He may have asked me this morning." 

Tendou had always been the type to be scared of commitment, regardless of how solid the relationship was. It was truly heartwarming to see this man officially label himself as in a relationship with someone. Thank god for Ushijima, because Tendou was certainly a piece of work. 

"Okay Tsukki and Bokuto! Looks like you guys are next!" Tendou exclaimed, still beaming with pride from announcing his new relationship. 

"Funny," Tsukishima glared at the red head. "I'd rather be single." 

Come to think of it, Bokuto did not have one close, straight friend. Kuroo was bisexual, Tendou was gay, Tsukishima was gay, and Bokuto himself was bi. Kuroo had Kenma. Tendou had Ushijima. Hinata had Kageyama. And that's not even half of the guy friend's he had who were in steady relationships with their boyfriends. Fuck, he thought to himself. Where's mine?

It was nearly 7:30 at that point and the band had to make their way over to the party. They decided to let Tsukishima drive them over. It was only a ten minute drive, but they would definitely all have to Uber home anyways. 

It was nearly 8 when they got there, so people had already started to come in. Too early for people to be drunk yet, Bokuto thought as he followed the others inside. 

"How are we feeling boys?" Kuroo asked the group as they found the room with their instruments. 

The room was extremely open, in the center of many other rooms. The house was fucking huge, definitely a great party house. 

Bokuto himself felt energized as hell, probably because he chugged a Red Bull before coming over, but still ready to play. 

The men went their separate ways to socialize with others at the party, waiting for the place to fill up so they had a good audience when it was time for them to perform. 

At around 9:15, Nishinoya stood on top of a table and banged two pans together to get everyone's attention. 

"Ladies and g-gentlemen!" he hiccuped a bit, clearly already tipsy. "Thanks for pulling up tonight! If you see me downing an entire bottle of vodka, please do not stop me. I am okay!" The crowd laughed. "Now, I'd like to invite a few of my dearest f-friends up here to fucking bang out some tunes for us. These t-talented men look good as fuck tonight-" the crowd cheered and clapped, "yeah! That's the spirit! Now without further ado, allow me to introduce these pretty boys!" 

"Leave it up to Noya to actually forget the name of the band," Tsukishima said as the crowd roared and lifted their drinks. 

Here we go, Bokuto thought, connecting his guitar to one of the speakers, first gig in months. 

"LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO!" Kuroo yelled into the mic, signaling that they were ready to play the first song. 

For the first song of the night, they chose to do a cover to get the crowd hyped up. 

Punk rock was their thing and the crowd went fucking insane when Kuroo sang the first line to I Wanna Be Sedated by the Ramones. 

The energy the crowd was giving was intoxicating and the band sounded amazing. It really was good to be back. 

As the band played some more classics with a few originals mixed in, the crowd only grew and got louder. About a half hour later, Kuroo took a moment to speak into the mic. "Alright drunks and drunkettes, we love the energy you're giving us and I hope you're enjoying our shit!" he took a second to blow a kiss at Kenma, who was standing against a wall, "anyways, we're gonna enjoy this rad ass party and we might be back to give you guys some more, if we aren't passed out from the amount of alcohol we're about to consume! Rock on!" 

And with that, the band was (most likely) done for the night. 

The four of them celebrated their first gig by each taking a shot of vodka and then disappearing into the crowd. 

\- - - 

Tsukishima grabbed a cup of whatever the fuck people were pouring and went to socialize with the few people he liked. He took a sip of the liquid inside of the cup and gagged when he tasted pure rum with maybe a splash of soda. Oh well, the first few drinks were usually a struggle to get through until he was drunk enough to down whatever he was given. 

Compared to the others, he was pretty lightweight when it came to drinking. He took his drink and off he went to search for someone he could tolerate speaking to. 

Tsukishima was stopped a few times to be told that his playing was great, to which he mumbled a quiet "thanks". He wasn't a sociable person, not in the slightest. It was Kuroo, Bokuto, and Tendou who dragged his ass around to meet people. He loved the guys, but he preferred to be alone most of the time. 

He soon saw Asahi leaned up against a wall talking to a few other people Tsukishima liked. Asahi was two years older than him, but the two shared a few classes and hung out every so often. 

The tall man saw Tsukishima approaching and held his arms out for a hug. Tsukishima accepted this gesture and greeted the two other men who were talking to Asahi. 

The two others were Sugawara and Daichi. Daichi was the captain of the tennis team, and Suga was his boyfriend. Tsukishima was envious of the relationship that the two men had. He was certain that they would get married right out of college. They were the ideal couple that everyone adored. 

"Hey Tsukishima," Suga smiled warmly at him and Daichi slapped him on the back as a form of greeting. 

"We were just talking about how great you guys played," Asahi looked at Tsukishima with such a genuine smile. 

"Thanks Asahi," he responded. Always so dry. He would have to drink a lot more to loosen up a little. 

After conversing with the three others for a while, Tsukishima went off to do exactly that. Hopefully he wouldn't make a damn fool of himself in front of anyone tonight. 

\- - - 

It was nearly 1 am and Tsukishima had absolutely no idea how much alcohol he drank. All he knew is that his vision was blurry through his contacts and walking straight was difficult. 

He looked around for his bandmates earlier to find Bokuto shirtless on top of a table screaming some song by Lady Gaga. A small crowd was gathered around him taking a video but Bokuto had absolutely no shame, sober or drunk. Kuroo was outside, still fully clothed, with a very drunk Kenma on his shoulders. Kuroo himself was on the verge of wasted, downing drink after drink. Tendou was up in a bedroom smoking weed with one of the men who lived in the house, Tanaka, and a few other people. He had offered Tsukishima a hit, but Tsukishima declined his offer. Maybe next party. Tendou rarely got drunk without getting high as fuck too. 

Seeing that none of the others' lives were in danger, Tsukishima figured it was safe to drink some more. 

At some point, Tsukishima found himself laying on the ground with a complete stranger next to him. They were deep in conversation about whether or not Godzilla could beat King Kong in a fight. Tsukishima felt great, laying on the carpeted floor, talking to this random ass guy about something he would not recall the next morning. He felt free. 

Eventually, Tsukishima managed to drag himself up and he was faced with the very, very drunk Kuroo and Bokuto standing right in front of him. 

They flashed him an awfully devilish grin and dragged him outside to where the pool was. 

He was too drunk and happy to tell the two of them to fuck off, so outside he went. It was probably almost 2 in the morning and the air still felt warm. There were a bunch of small lights strung around the gate guarding the pool and it looked pretty nice. Behind them, a group of girls were arguing loudly over a beer can. 

Tsukishima was about to ask the two dumbasses why they brought him outside when Kuroo said "We should play beer pong!" 

The blonde looked around the yard until his eyes landed on the group of people setting cups up on a ping pong table. 

The three of them waited until the first group of people finished their game before they rushed in to play. The teams were Tsukishima and Kenma vs. Bokuto and Kuroo. 

The four of them were wasted, so the game went very slowly, with Kenma spilling at least three cups. Nishinoya, Asahi, Tanaka, and another man were observing the game, waiting until it was their turn. Finally, the chaotic duo of Tanaka and Nishinoya grew impatient and jumped into the game, throwing the ping pong balls at Kuroo while Kenma laughed his ass off and took a video. 

It seemed as though the game was over at that point, so Tsukishima strolled off again, somehow finding himself with yet another drink in his hands. Jesus, he would be regretting this tomorrow morning. 

Unsure of how much time had passed and unaware of his surroundings, Tsukishima had moved into some open room with many other people in it. Some people were making out, some people passed out on the couch, some people maybe still sober; the room was very crowded. 

Considering Tendou was smoking in someone's room upstairs, Tsukishima highly doubted that anyone would care if he smoked a cigarette in the corner of the room. Tsukishima wasn't an active cigarette smoker, but he liked to keep a pack and a lighter on him when he went to parties. 

He held the cigarette in between his lips while he fished the small lighter out of his pocket. Found it! He pulled it out and gave himself a light, still feeling euphoric from his drunkenness. 

He took a long drag from the cigarette while slowly gazing around the room, trying to figure out if he knew anyone. He decided everyone in the room was a stranger to him. Unless maybe on the opposite side of the room that was the man he had seen with Tanaka earli- holy fucking shit. 

Tsukishima's stare fell on one of the most ethereal men he had ever seen with his own two eyes. Maybe it was just the alcohol talking, but this man was absolutely angelic. 

The man, looking about Tsukishima's age and slightly shorter than him, had brunette hair that was grown out enough to be tied back in a small bun, with a few strands hanging in front of his face. He wore a skirt similar to the one that Tendou was wearing that night. And fuck, Tsukishima thought, did his legs look really good. The man was also wearing a black cropped T-shirt and even from a distance, Tsukishima could see that he had a small amount of eye makeup on. 

Tsukishima wondered how long he had been staring when suddenly someone approached the man he had been admiring. He didn't recognize him, but he had seen him earlier talking to, who was it, Kuroo maybe?

He watched the interaction of the other man clearly flirting with the pretty one. Tsukishima wasn't sure if he should step in. He was certainly confident enough to do that right now, but what if it made him look stupid and he embarrassed himself? Before he had time to do anything, the stranger that Tsukishima had been laying on the ground with earlier walked up to the man who was flirting and grabbed his hand to drag him out. 

He assumed that the spiky haired stranger whom he had discussed a battle between Godzilla and King Kong with personally knew the man he had dragged out of the room. Nothing to worry about, but now the gorgeous man was free to approach. 

Again, before Tsukishima could make his way across the room, he was shocked to see that the said gorgeous man was walking across the room to him. Him? It could've been a mistake on Tsukishima's part. Why would he want to talk to hi-

"Hey." 

Fuck, was this a dream? This had to be a dream. What was going on? Tsukishima realized suddenly that he hadn't responded to this beautiful man now standing in front of him. 

He lowered the cigarette and as coolly as possible said, "Hey." 

The man in front of him was clearly wasted as well. 

"I saw you staring at me across the room and I think you're pretty," the man said. "I'm Yamaguchi." 

Even being as drunk as Tsukishima was, he was shocked at the confidence this man possessed. Him? Pretty? 

"Oh uh," Tsukishima hesitated. "Fuck I'm sorry I didn't realize I was staring. That's embarrassing. Fuck. Sorry. You're really fucking gorgeous." 

Oh my god. There was no way Tsukishima just said that. He was definitely slurring his words a lot, so at least Yamaguchi knew he was shitfaced. 

Yamaguchi just smiled a little bit. It was obvious that the man was used to getting compliments from drunk strangers. 

"Oh yeah. I'm Tsukishima," he realized that he forgot to give his name. 

Yamaguchi nodded, a smile still on his face. Had he really called Tsukishima pretty? Had that happened? 

The slightly shorter man then pointed at the half smoked cigarette in between Tsukishima's fingers, asking if he could have one. 

Tsukishima dug in his pocket again to pull out another cigarette and his lighter. Yamaguchi took the cigarette from him and placed it in his mouth. Tsukishima lit the end and give himself another light as well. 

"So Tsukki, I saw you play. You're amazing," Yamaguchi looked up at him, his eyes shining. He had big, beautiful eyes and Tsukishima had to stop himself before he gazed into them for too long and creeped him out. 

He already called him Tsukki. It took months until Tsukishima finally allowed his bandmates to call him that, but when Yamaguchi said it, he liked the sound. He really liked his voice. 

"Thanks. My bandmates are kinda insane." 

"They give off that energy," Yamaguchi let out a small laugh. "You're all crazy talented though. What's your band name again?" 

Tsukishima took a long drag of his cigarette and let out the smoke before answering, "1-4-5-11."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> made this one longer! also i'm not creative so i made the band name their jersey numbers


	6. Men Who Look Like Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the kudos n comments! again, any suggestions for future chapters are welcome :)

The remainder of the night was a complete blur. 

The energy had not died down, not in the slightest. The time was probably close to 3:30 am. A few people had gone home, but the most trashed decided to stay and live out the night. 

As for the band, they remained at the frat house. They had no intentions of calling an Uber to pick their asses up. The four of them were completely out of their fucking minds, but they couldn't have felt more alive. 

\- - - 

Tsukishima, a usual disaster when it came to men, got lucky with the stunning man who caught his eye. The man named Yamaguchi had seemingly not been creeped out by the drunk and flirtatious Tsukishima. In fact, he had taken his phone and added his contact. Tsukishima hoped that he hadn't put in a fake number, but he would try it out later in the morning if he wasn't on his deathbed from an insane hangover. 

At some point during their drunken conversation, they had moved over to the couch. Tsukishima was sitting upright, with the shorter man laying across his lap. Tsukishima mindlessly ran his fingers through Yamaguchi's hair, admiring how soft it was. He gazed down at the man in his lap, attempting to count the freckles scattered delicately across his skin. Yamaguchi was rambling on about some horror movie he had watched while the blonde man nodded absentmindedly, simply taking in his beauty. 

The intimacy of the moment was short lived. No amount of alcohol could have mentally prepared Tsukishima for what he witnessed next. 

Goddamn Tetsurou Kuroo followed by who else but Koutarou Bokuto stroll into the fucking room, half naked and screaming. 

"KEI TSUKISHIMA! WE ARE LOOKING FOR A VERY TALL, LANKY BOY WHO ANSWERS TO TSUKISHIMA OR TSUKKI!!" 

"IF YOU SEE A BLONDE BOY WHO LOOKS DRUNK AND ANGRY PLEASE RETURN HIM TO US!" 

There is just absolutely no way this is real, Tsukishima thought to himself. Yamaguchi remained on his lap but shifted slightly to see who the hell was shouting. 

"For fuck's sake. I'm right here you morons," Tsukishima glared at the two. 

"Found him!" Bokuto punched Kuroo on the arm and pointed over to the irritable looking blonde boy sitting on the couch with another man draped across him. 

The infamous fuckheads shrugged an apology to the others in the room who were also disturbed by the intrusion and then made their way over to Tsukishima. 

Bokuto opened his mouth to say something, but first noticed the confused looking freckled man laying on his bandmate. 

Kuroo noticed a second after and gave his signature, awful smirk.

At this moment, Tsukishima knew he was going to be embarrassed. 

"OHOHOHO!" Kuroo took his chance to embarrass him first. "What do we have here, Tsukks?!" he stumbled over to behind the couch, leaning down on Tsukishima's shoulder. 

Him and Bokuto were both slurring their words and still being way too loud and obnoxious for the energy of the room. 

"Kuroo, why is it that whenever I have one nice thing, you like to interfere?" Tsukishima did his best to remain calm, fearing that he would murder the two men bothering him. 

The rooster head gasped dramatically, clutching his chest. "Why Tsukishima.. we were only going to show our support for you being able to actually pull a beautiful man!" Kuroo winked at the still confused looking Yamaguchi. 

Bokuto seized the chance to embarrass Tsukishima next. 

"Honestly, Tsukki. For your drunkenness level, I'm surprised you didn't say some stupid ass shit and then get rejected! You've got yourself a pretty one here," he said, nodding towards the man on Tsukishima's lap. 

"Yamaguchi, I would like to apologize on behalf of these two idiots. They thrive off of making my life a living hell. We can go elsewhere if you w-" Tsukishima started. 

"No, no! It's fine! I had a feeling your bandmates would come looking for you anyways," Yamaguchi turned to Kuroo and Bokuto. "I'm Yamaguchi. You guys sounded amazing earlier." 

"Oh you heard us play!" Kuroo plopped down on the couch. Tsukishima groaned, knowing there was no getting rid of them now. 

"Yeah, I really fuck with punk rock and I liked your originals. I might have to look into your music more," Yamaguchi smiled warmly at the black haired man. 

How does he have the patience? Tsukishima thought. If I were him, I would've left already... and he's so nice too? Tsukishima was fucking swooning over this man he just met. 

"Tsukki! I like this guy!" Bokuto threw himself onto the couch, next to Tsukishima and Kuroo and swung his arm around the blonde one's shoulders. 

Yamaguchi shifted up a little bit, so that he wasn't taking up too much space with his legs. He was practically sitting on Tsukishima's lap. 

And he was wearing a skirt. Fuck. Tsukishima hoped that no one could see him blushing furiously in the dim lighting. 

"I'm flattered," Yamaguchi laughed at Boktuo's comment. 

Bokuto and Kuroo grinned at each other. 

"So Yamaguchi, about our beloved Tsukki," Kuroo began, "he is honestly not an awful guy. You haven't seen him sober yet, of course, but we personally think that you should give this hopeless romantic a chance!" 

"He got my number, so it's up to him to do something with it," Yamaguchi smiled. 

"Score!" Bokuto punched Tsukishima in the arm. "Tsukki hates pretty much everyone and everything, but he's weak as hell for men who look like you," he winked. 

Men who looked like Yamaguchi. Tsukishima hadn't ever seen anyone who looked even slightly similar to the man in his lap. 

It was difficult to tell in the lighting, but Yamaguchi had big greenish-brown eyes that once you stared into them, you couldn't look away. His neatly pulled back hair with loose strands framing his face and his skin dotted with light freckles all over.. he really was beautiful. 

"Are you done?" Tsukishima sighed, tired of the embarrassment. 

"I suppose. Oh, we came in here to get you for a reason!" Kuroo remembered. "Tendou has something planned. He won't tell us yet, but he needs the band." 

Tsukishima didn't want to move from the position he was in, but he knew with Kuroo and Bokuto, he had no choice. 

"Fine," he said finally and Yamaguchi moved off of him so that he could get up. 

Tsukishima stood up and prepared to follow the others out when he held his hand out to the man still sitting on the couch, "you coming?"


	7. Non-Sober Serenade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ushiten chapter ushiten chapter  
> ushijima shows affection

The three bandmates, accompanied by Yamaguchi, left the room to find their drummer. 

The men had no clue as to what Tendou was planning. Knowing him, it was going to be something big and unexpected. 

Tendou often liked to pull together random shit at the last moment and then drag the others into it. However, considering they were all drunk at a frat party with a bunch of other drunk students, the embarrassment shouldn't be too bad.

\- - - 

Eventually the men found Tendou talking to Daichi in the room where they had performed earlier in the night. Bokuto could see the look of excitement on Tendou's face. Quite frankly, it was fucking scary. 

Tendou saw the others approaching and hugged Daichi goodbye before turning to face them. 

"Gentlemen," he started, slurring his words, "I am planning something." His face was flushed and he was clearly drunk out of his mind. Whatever his plan was, it wasn't going to be good. 

"We understand that, dumbass, now what's your plan?" Tsukishima glared at the wasted red head practically bouncing with excitement in front of him. Bokuto and Kuroo could see that he wanted nothing more than to go back to where he previously was with Yamaguchi. 

"I was going to explain tha-" Tendou cut himself off. "Tsukki who do we have here?" he walked toward the freckled man and leaned down close to him, even though said freckled man wasn't too much shorter. 

"Fuck off," Tsukishima stood closer to Yamaguchi, prepared to protect him from the man with absolutely no sense of personal space. 

"We'll talk about that later," Tendou smirked, "your skirt is pretty by the way," he added to the now blushing Yamaguchi. 

"So anyways," he went on, "are you fine boys sober enough to play maybe one or two songs in order for me to impress my dear Wakatoshi?" 

Of course that's what he wanted to do. Have the completely drunk band members serenade the idiot's boyfriend. None of the others really knew Ushijima too well, other than the fact that despite his intense and intimidating appearance, he was one of the most awkwardly sweet people they had ever met. 

Ushijima sort of carried around the reputation of a complete asshole because of the way he was in high school, but meeting Tendou had almost completely changed the man. While Tendou and him were very different, they brought out the best in each other. Their relationship had only just become official (probably why Tendou had the brilliant idea to do something big for him) but the way that the two men acted around each other was always endearing. 

"I'm in," Bokuto said suddenly and looked to the black haired man next to him. 

"Hell yeah!" Kuroo exclaimed. 

The three of them turned simultaneously to Tsukishima. 

"I really don't have a choice, do I?" he sighed. 

"Nope!" Bokuto grinned and slung his arms across the taller man's shoulder. 

"I am in love with you all," Tendou held his hand to his heart. "Now, do you guys remember I Wanna Love You by Just Friends? That's his favorite band and we've played that song a few times during practices. Also, it's cute as hell." 

The others nodded. They had a lot of songs that they just played for practice or for fun, but never when they performed. 

"Sweet. Go get your instruments hooked up again and I'm gonna go find Nishinoya!" 

Tendou skipped off to look for Noya while the others went to hook up their instruments and microphones to the speakers. Yamaguchi leaned on a wall nearby, talking to Suga. 

A few minutes later, Tendou returned with Nishinoya following behind him. Tendou made his way over to his drum set, flashing Nishinoya a thumbs up. 

Like earlier, Noya hoisted himself onto the table and clanked two beer bottles together. All attention immediately went to him. 

"Hope you guys are enjoying the party!" a crowd of people cheered. "Awh, thank you guys! You all seemed to fuck with our band earlier, so they're back to play a quick song. I'll hand the attention over to them now!" and with that Nishinoya hopped off the table. 

As the short, wild-looking man requested, all attention was turned to the men with the instruments. People starting coming in from other rooms and soon it was crowded. 

The band hadn't realized that this many people were still at the party. Oh well, any audience is a good audience. 

When he finally saw Ushijima walk into the room, Tendou took the mic and cleared his throat. The room grew quiet. 

"This won't be another long set of songs, I want you guys to get back to drinking or fucking or whatever people at parties do," people raised their drinks and laughed, "we'll just be here for one song longer." Tendou glanced around the room before locking eyes with Ushijima. 

"I'm not a very romantic guy, but there's just something about the way my boyfriend's eyes light up when I show him a new skirt I bought, or the excitement on his face when he buys a new house plant, or the way he actually tolerates me that makes me feel like the luckiest fucking man in the entire world. Wakatoshi, my love, this one's for you!" 

\- - - 

Hearing Tendou say something even slightly romantic and sincere was shocking. The look on Ushijima's face as soon as Kuroo sang the first line of the song was indescribable. He either looked as if he was going to burst into tears or pass out. Needless to say, he was swooning. Tendou didn't have an awful idea after all. 

As soon as the band finished, the crowd exploded with cheers and cries for an encore. Kuroo promised that 1-4-5-11 would be having plenty of other gigs soon. 

Tendou bumped through the crowd to get to Ushijima, who was standing teary-eyed and dumbstruck. 

"Did you like it!?" he yelled through the noise, even though Ushijima was standing right in front of him. 

Ushijima said nothing, but instead lifted Tendou off of his feet and kissed him for all those surrounding him to see. 

Tendou smiled into the kiss, overwhelmed with the emotions he felt. Ushijima was not a fan of PDA. Everyone who knew him knew he was gay, but he still liked to keep things personal. 

After what seemed to last forever, Ushijima set Tendou back down. Both men were blushing furiously. A few people surrounding them clapped and cheered for the couple. 

Ushijima took both of Tendou's hands in his own, "I loved it, Tendou."


	8. Good Friends and Spilled Beer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> focusing more on bokuto now! thank u guys for the kudos and comments!!

Following the band's short performance, the remainder of the night wasn't anything crazy. 

Tendou and Ushijima went off together, probably to do whatever the fuck couples do. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi went back to the room they were in previously before Kuroo and Bokuto had dragged them out. Kuroo was telling a story very loudly to a group of people while sitting on top of the kitchen table. 

Bokuto was still very drunk, but left alone to his thoughts. He had kept himself busy the entire night by catching up with practically everyone who approached him. There was always a period of time at every party he went to that he just felt the need to be alone with himself. And now was clearly one of those times. 

He was in the large room they had performed in, standing against a wall with a drink in his hand. Bokuto was staring at his feet, beginning to space out. 

About fifteen minutes had passed when Bokuto felt a light touch on his arm. He looked down to find a tired looking Kenma still lightly holding his forearm. He was instantly snapped out of his daze and all of his attention was turned to the shorter man. 

"Kenma!" Bokuto said probably a bit too loudly. 

"Tetsurou's going on about me to a random group of people again and it was getting embarrassing. I saw you were alone over here. You having one of those moments again?" Kenma looked shyly up at him. 

Practically all of Bokuto's friends knew about his frequent mood swings. His calmer friends, like Kenma, were usually the best at sympathizing with him, but he had an overall supportive friend group who knew how to be there for him in these situations. 

Bokuto's gaze shifted to the floor again before he sighed and turned to Kenma. 

"I just don't get it," he started. "I'm surrounded by all these people who I love to death who give me endless support so why is it that I feel like I'm just missing a huge part of me?" 

"Do you wanna sit?" Kenma motioned to the empty couch near them. 

Bokuto nodded and followed him over, still talking. 

"I know I talk about this almost every time I'm not feeling like myself, but I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I was fine this whole day and suddenly this overwhelming loneliness comes out of nowhere, but I know I'm not alone! You know what I mean?" he was now seated on the couch rambling to the still-drunk Kenma leaning against him.

Kenma waited until his friend was done before opening his mouth. "I understand. It kind of sounds like how I felt before meeting Tetsurou. I knew I had people who loved me and cared about me, but the way he makes me feel is just different. We're not that different, you and I," he smiled a bit, "you're just better at concealing emotions than I am. If I were you, I wouldn't stress myself out about finding someone to fill that void. Give it time. The last thing we want to see is for you to lose your mind over this. I'm here for you whenever you need someone to talk to, though." 

Kenma was the last person anyone would expect to open up about his emotions. He had pretty bad social anxiety and rarely went out unless Kuroo begged him. Bokuto was honored to be one of the very few people who Kenma actually enjoyed talking to. Kenma had told him before that he felt safe with him and Bokuto had nearly cried. The band members and Hinata were pretty much the only people who Kenma was comfortable around. Speaking of Hinata-

"Oh hey Shoyo," Kenma said to the quickly approaching orange blur. 

Hinata came over to them with a soaking wet shirt and very out of breath. 

"Bokuto! Kenma!" he held onto the side of the couch to catch his breath. "I'm gonna hang out with you guys for a little bit because I think Tobio is going to kill me!" 

Of course. 

"Are you going to explain why you're soaked?" Kenma stared as Hinata plopped down next to Bokuto. 

"Well uh... I may have accidentally tripped and spilled beer all over Tobio and then ran into Daichi while I was trying to get away. Daichi spilled most of his beer on me, but I know that if Tobio finds me he's gonna drown me in the pool outside, or worse, ignore me for a few days." 

Bokuto remembered about three months ago when Hinata had pissed off Kageyama to the point where he refused to talk to him for almost a week, despite the couple living together. 

"I'll tell him not to be mad at you! I'm older so he'll have to listen to me!" Bokuto reassured the younger man. 

"Thanks Bokuto! Anyways, what's going on with you two?" Hinata shifted so that he was laying across Kenma's lap. 

"My mind is in a weird place again," Bokuto tried to simplify it enough for Hinata to understand. Hinata was one of the most supportive people that Bokuto knew, but when it came to advice or being able to relate in these situations, he wasn't the best. 

He did have a solid understanding of Bokuto's mood swings and he was a good listener, but Bokuto didn't feel like getting into it again. 

Hinata could probably tell that Bokuto wasn't feeling up to spilling his heart again, especially because Kenma had already heard it once that night, so he just gave a little nod and patted the older man on the arm. He was still laying on Kenma's lap, but he turned so that he was staring up at Bokuto. 

"I'm not good with these things, but I'm always going to be here for you."

Just hearing Bokuto's friends reassure him in the simplest ways made his heart explode every time. It was probably because he was drunk, but Bokuto might've teared up a little bit. 

"I love you guys!" Bokuto slung one arm around Kenma and ruffled Hinata's hair with his other hand. 

The three of them talked for a while until their conversation was interrupted. 

"Shoyo!" Bokuto turned to see an angry Kageyama storming across the room. "I fucking swear I'm going to kill you!" 

Hinata jumped off of Kenma's lap, ready to run. Bokuto stopped Kageyama before he had the chance to commit a murder. 

Thanks to the couple's chaos, Bokuto was back to being himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im rewatching haikyuu for like the 3rd time and my homeboy mad dog really just <3


	9. Here With Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a minute! here's a new chapter!

"Okay boys, Kenma has decided that he's tired so I think I'm gonna call an Uber for us now," Kuroo grabbed his jacket and got out his phone. 

It was around three in the morning and the effects of the alcohol were slightly wearing off. 

Bokuto had managed to stop Kageyama from killing Hinata, though Hinata couldn't really be helped much once the men got back to their apartment. 

"Are we all leaving now?" Bokuto asked as Kuroo clicked onto the Uber app. 

"I guess," the black haired man replied, "anyone know where Tendou and Tsukishima are?" 

"I'd assume Tsukishima is with the freckled one and Tendou is with farmer boy," Kenma answered. 

"Ah!" Kuroo suddenly remembered the pretty man with freckles who his blonde friend seemed to take a liking to. "Well do we let him go or-" 

No time was given for anyone to answer the question as Tsukishima, followed by Yamaguchi, emerged from the room they were in. Anyone could tell that Tsukishima looked pissed, despite his resting face causing him to always look like he's ready to hit someone. The man following behind him looked slightly terrified. 

"Are you guys okay?" Bokuto was the first to ask. Seeing Tsukishima in a genuinely bad mood was never a good sign. 

"Some gross drunk guy wouldn't stop harassing Yamaguchi," Tsukishima explained, "then he tried to grab him so I may have punched him in the face." 

Kuroo, Kenma, and Bokuto stared at the blonde man, waiting for him to continue. 

"I-uh don't think I've ever seen him before.. but we should probably go before I get beaten up. I can't really fight." 

Tsukishima punching someone in the face was new. No matter how mad he got, it was rare to see him go beyond yelling. 

"Well fuck," Kuroo put his phone back in his pocket. "An Uber is on the way. Yamaguchi, if you don't wanna stay here alone, you can totally come with us!" 

Tsukishima silently prayed that Yamaguchi would accept this offer. 

The still-flustered Yamaguchi glanced around at the others. He had only met these men tonight, but they seemed safe enough. 

"Oh-um," Yamaguchi hesitated, "my apartment is off campus and I don't want you guys to have to go out of your way to get me hom-" 

Tsukishima quickly interrupted, "My apartment is close if you wanna spend the night." 

Holy fucking shit, Bokuto thought, that was bold. 

Tsukishima noticed that everyone was shocked at his offer and blushed furiously. 

"I mean obviously only if you're comfortable with that.. I know we just met tonight. I'm sorry that was really forward I-"

"I'd like that," the freckled man smiled at him. 

Tsukishima could've sworn his heart exploded. 

"Uber's here, let's dip," Kuroo took Kenma by the hand and led the way out. 

"Wait," Bokuto stopped them, "Tendou."

"Shit. I'll call him," Kuroo got out his phone again and clicked on Tendou's contact.

The others listened as Kuroo asked the red haired man of his whereabouts. 

After hanging up the phone, Kuroo informed them that Tendou was going to walk home with Ushijima. Ushijima's apartment was about a ten minute walk from the frat house, so they would be fine. Tendou was also apparently trying to get Ushijima to smoke with him and Tanaka. That would certainly make for a good story. 

The five men went outside to find their Uber. Bokuto would have to remember to thank Nishinoya for throwing an absolute rager as always. And of course for letting the band play. 

Once the men found the car and were inside, they fell into a peaceful silence. Kenma was seated in the far back, talking quietly with Yamaguchi. 

Kuroo, Kenma, and Bokuto were the first ones to be dropped off. 

"Do you need us to walk you to your apartment to make sure that you don't fall down the stairs or something?" Kuroo smirked. 

"That was one time!" Bokuto said defensively. "I should be good though. Goodnight, love you guys!" 

"Goodnight! I'll decide if we have practice tomorrow depending on my hangover," Kuroo turned to head to his and Kenma's apartment. 

Bokuto smiled as he watched the two leave. He started up the stairs to his own apartment, trying hard to keep himself from getting lost in his thoughts again. 

\- - - 

"My apartment's on the left over here," Tsukishima led the way with Yamaguchi following him. 

"It's kinda small, sorry," he said, unlocking and opening the door. 

The two men stepped inside the small, but cozy apartment. Tsukishima lived alone and had no reason to own a large apartment. 

Yamaguchi quickly noticed that Tsukishima didn't care to have much going on with the interior design. In the main area and kitchen, there was hardly anything on the walls. A few frames with pictures of family and friends inside them hung here and there, and on the couch there were a few decorative pillows. If there was one thing that stood out, it was the little dinosaur figurines seen spread out throughout the place. 

Cute, Yamaguchi thought to himself and smiled as he continued to look around. 

"Hey um," Tsukishima looked over his shoulder at Yamaguchi as he was taking his shoes off, "I'd say you can sleep on the couch, but you're not that short and the couch is pretty small. I usually just make Kuroo or Bokuto sleep there if they crash here because they're annoying."

"Is this an invitation to sleep in your bed with you?" Yamaguchi grinned at the now blushing man. 

"Only if you want to... I have clothes you can borrow too." 

"Fine with me," the shorter man replied and followed Tsukishima into his bedroom. 

The bedroom was a bit more exciting than the rest of the place. There were a few rows of vinyls put up on the walls, with a long string of lights reaching every corner of the room. There were a few small plants on top of the dresser, as well as a stack of books. The mirror by the closet had a bunch of dinosaur stickers all over it. The bed took up most of the space of the room. Pillows and blankets were randomly thrown all over, and a pair of headphones sat in the middle. 

"These should fit," Tsukishima handed Yamaguchi a pair of gray sweatpants and a t-shirt which had "1-4-5-11" printed on it with a horrible choice of font. 

"I like the band merch," Yamaguchi laughed as he held up the shirt. 

"Isn't it fucking awful?" Tsukishima sat down on the bed. "Tendou insisted that we make the shirts as ugly as possible just for us to wear at shows. Next time I'm at his apartment, I'm burning his so that we could get new ones."

"Smart," Yamaguchi agreed, "I'm gonna go get changed now. You wouldn't happen to have any makeup wipes, would you?" 

"In the second drawer under the sink," Tsukishima pointed to the bathroom across from the bedroom. 

Yamaguchi made his way into the bathroom while Tsukishima got dressed in his own room. He made sure to take all of his makeup off and wash his face with the stuff Tsukishima had. Thank god he has skincare products, Yamaguchi thought to himself as he took off his skirt and put on Tsukishima's sweatpants. 

Tsukishima was fairly taller than himself, so he had to roll the sweatpants so they weren't covering his feet. He put on the t-shirt and tied it up to be a crop top with the extra hair tie he had on his wrist. 

When he left the bathroom, Tsukishima blushed again at the sight of the shorter man with his shirt tied up. He took a mental note that Yamaguchi manages to look good in anything. He was even gorgeous without makeup, his freckles even more visible. 

Yamaguchi settled into bed and plugged his phone into the charger that was nearby. Tsukishima came in a few minutes later, also without any makeup on and now wearing glasses. The taller man wore a gray muscle tee and black shorts. Yamaguchi noticed that he had very nice arms. 

Tsukishima moved into the bed, leaving very little space between him and the other man. 

"Goodnight Tsukki!" Yamaguchi covered himself with a blanket and closed his eyes. 

Tsukishima turned off the light on his nightstand and laid down so that he was facing the other. 

Even in the darkness, the light shined through the window just enough to highlight the features on Yamaguchi's face. Tsukishima silently admired the now sleeping man, adoring how his freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks. How did I get lucky enough to be here with him? Tsukishima thought. 

"Goodnight Yamaguchi," he whispered to the man sleeping next to him. 

Tsukishima closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so soft for tsukkiyama...


	10. New Opportunities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing this instead of doing my lit ap work <3

Yamaguchi woke up with a pounding headache. 

He quickly reached over to check his phone. 1:57 pm. 

Fuck, he thought, glancing over to the empty space next to him. He made a mental note to repay Tsukishima for letting him spend the night. 

Speaking of Tsukishima, was he still there? He wouldn't have any classes on a Sunday, right? Maybe band practice- 

Yamaguchi's thoughts were interrupted by a quiet knock on the bedroom door. 

"Are you alive?" came Tsukishima's voice from the other side of the door. 

"Unfortunately," the freckled man responded as Tsukishima opened the door. 

"On a scale from 1-10, how disgusting do you feel right now?" the taller man asked. 

"Probably a solid 9," Yamaguchi responded, now sitting up. 

His headache only worsened with the sudden movement. He winced in pain and immediately went to lay back down, clutching his head. 

"Same here," Tsukishima plopped down on the bed next to him. 

Tsukishima was still wearing what he had worn to bed. No band practice then, Yamaguchi noted. 

The blonde man's hair was tousled, tangling around the glasses that sat on top of his head. His dark eye bags were prominent on his pale skin. Overall, he looked fucking exhausted. 

"By the way," Yamaguchi turned to face Tsukishima, "thanks a ton for letting me spend the night. I don't know what would have happened if I stayed at the party." 

Tsukishima didn't want to imagine the possibilities of that situation. 

"It's no problem," he replied. 

The two fell into a comfortable silence for a while. Tsukishima finally decided to speak before Yamaguchi fell asleep again. It was almost 2pm, anyways. How the hell was he capable of sleeping for that long?

"Wanna get coffee?" he asked. 

Yamaguchi opened his eyes a bit and muttered something that sounded like "please". 

"I'm gonna go shower first," the blonde man said, standing up and stretching. "Don't fall asleep again."

\- - - 

Bokuto always managed to wake up earlier than anyone else. He had no fear of a hangover, despite waking up at 7 am. 

He had no classes and no volleyball practice, but he wanted to get a head start nonetheless. 

He grabbed his phone and shot a quick text to Nishinoya. 

"thx for the party dude! shit rocked as always :)" 

Even though Bokuto was hammered the night before, he woke up with no hangover. In fact, he felt great. He texted Kuroo, knowing that he wouldn't answer until at least 2 pm. 

Bokuto got dressed in gym shorts and a t-shirt for a jog. He always did his best to stay in shape for volleyball. Any other college student would think that he was insane for waking up early to exercise, but it was a huge part of his routine. 

After his jog, he expected to come home to an empty apartment, considering he lived alone. 

However, this wasn't the case. Inside his apartment sat Kuroo Tetsurou with his signature shit-eating grin on his face. 

"When did I give you the spare key to my apartment," Bokuto asked, taking off his shoes. 

"I don't remember," said the catlike man, swinging the spare key on his finger. "I've had it for like three months though."

"Fair enough," Bokuto went to sit down on the couch next to Kuroo. "Can I ask why you're here so early? You usually wake up mid-afternoon on weekends."

"Special occasion!" the taller man replied, throwing himself across Bokuto's lap. He looked up at him, eyes wide. 

He continued, "So I may have received a very important and very interesting text this morning." 

Bokuto stared at him, waiting for him to proceed. 

"You know that place where we saw Kenma's favorite band perform a few months ago?" 

"The place with the huge fucking stage? Like right in the center of Tokyo?" 

"That's the one!" Kuroo went on. "Apparently Kenma's cousin is dating the guy who owns the place, so there's like a 95% chance that we'll be able to-"

"FUCK YES!" Bokuto interrupted, throwing both fists into the air. If the band had a chance to play at this venue, they would surely start to get other great opportunities. 

"Obviously it's not completely certain yet, but it would be in the fall, so we would have a lot of time to prepare," Kuroo continued. 

Bokuto was barely listening to what his friend had to say after. He was already imagining the band playing on a big stage in front of over a thousand people. 

Kuroo finished what he was saying and turned to see Bokuto with a dumb grin on his face. He could tell that he was planning out the entire concert in his head. 

"Bro, please tell Kenma that I owe him my entire life," Bokuto broke out of his daydream. 

"Will do," the black-haired man laughed and sat up. "We really don't deserve him."

Bokuto nodded, returning back to his thoughts. 

"I'll leave you alone now so you can jerk off or do whatever the fuck you do all day," Kuroo got up to leave. "I'll say something in the group chat so Tsukishima and Tendou know."

"I'll have you know that I actually practice guitar all day so I can carry the entire band on my back," Bokuto said defensively. 

"You literally forgot what a G Major chord sounded like three days ago," Kuroo deadpanned. 

"That never happened. Go home and feed Sho. I can hear him crying about how you starve him," Bokuto grinned. 

"How dare you accuse me of such a thing! I may be a dog person, but if I even attempted to harm precious Sho, Kenma would kick me out!" 

After the two argued for a bit longer, Kuroo finally decided to go back to his apartment. Bokuto was left alone with his imagination, yet again. 

Maybe Bokuto's guitar skills would impress someone so much that they would fall in love with him. 

He brushed this thought off as dumb, but he was hopeful.


	11. Unspoken Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst!

"Damnit Bokuto!" Kuroo threw the mic onto the couch, earning a high pitched noise that echoed throughout the room. "That's the fourth time you played the wrong chord!"

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm distracted today. I was practicing yesterday and it sounded fine. Let's just play the last few measures over," Bokuto glanced nervously at his other bandmates. 

The tension in the room was nearly unbearable. Kuroo was in a bad mood and everyone was on edge. 

"Hey, hey," Tendou tried, "it's only the beginning of August and the show isn't until mid-October! We have plenty of time to prepare."

Kuroo walked over to the couch to pick up his microphone. The others' eyes followed him as he moved. Even Tsukishima appeared to be uncomfortable with the energy that Kuroo had created.

It was rare that Kuroo showed any negative emotions. Anyone who knew him knew that Kuroo had one of the most electric personalities; always smiling or laughing. The man was constantly optimistic, even at the shittiest times. 

"I'm not worried about time," Kuroo began, "this is just going to be the biggest fucking show we've ever played. And it's just kind of frustrating because what if we're not taking this seriously enough? What if we're shit? I love you guys, I do, but what if-" 

"Bro," Bokuto interrupted Kuroo's rant, "where the fuck is this coming from?"

Kuroo looked up from the ground to see the others staring at him, shocked. 

"Nevermind, I'll just end practice now," he frowned. 

"So what you're saying is you're making up this bullshit idea that we're just going to absolutely fucking suck," Tsukishima started, "and you're stressed out about that. That's natural, Kuroo. But are you failing to remember that we've been playing together for a long time and we have never once had a problem? You've never been like this. You're not about to end practice because you're being a little bitch and won't tell us what's really up with you."

Tendou gave a small laugh. "Always so forward, Tsukki!"

"I'm just saying..." 

"I'm sorry," Kuroo kept his gaze on the ground, refusing to look at the others. 

Bokuto, Tsukishima, and Tendou waited in silence, anticipating Kuroo's next words.

"I didn't mean to get worked up. I get that I'm being irrational and I know you guys work really hard and you're all so talented," he began, "I'm seriously the luckiest guy in the world to get to play with you all. But today, I just feel kinda off. I promise I'll be better by tomorrow. It's weird I don't know." 

"Well, you should've just said that in the first place!" Tendou walked over to the black-haired man, playfully hitting his arm. 

Kuroo looked back up at the others, glad to see their looks of understanding. 

"Well then," he smiled, "practice tomorrow at 12. Don't be late!" 

"When have we ever been late?" Tendou asked, placing his drum sticks on the floor. 

"You were late to last practice because you slept over at Ushijima's house," Tsukishima deadpanned. 

Tendou stuck his tongue out at the blonde man, waving goodbye to the others as he left Kuroo's apartment. 

Tsukishima left shortly after, leaving Bokuto and Kuroo alone. 

"It's Kenma," Kuroo stared at the floor. 

"Huh? What's Kenma?" 

"Haven't you noticed that he hasn't been here for any of our practices since last month?" 

"I figured he was just out? I know he doesn't really like noise so I thought he would be at Hinata's or something while we practiced."

Bokuto looked over at Kuroo, who now looked on the verge of tears. 

"Yeah, he's been at Hinata's."

Bokuto realized that the couple must've had a fight. 

"Hey, hey," Bokuto frowned, "come here let's sit down." Bokuto led the now crying man to the couch.

"Tell me what happened."

"I fucked up, Bo," Kuroo said, leaning his face into Bokuto's sweatshirt. 

"Kenma was distancing himself. I mean he does it a lot but this time was concerning. Every time I came home he would suddenly have to leave. It was like he tried to avoid me anyway he could. Of course I talked to him about it, well I tried, but every time he would brush it off and call me paranoid."

Bokuto nodded, listening. 

"One day I came home and when Kenma tried to leave, I stopped him. He looked so fucking upset, like he didn't want anything to do with me. I asked him to tell me what was really wrong and he just said he was going to spend the night at Hinata's again. I don't even know why I lashed out at him like I did after that," Kuroo's sob was muffled from Bokuto's sweatshirt. 

"What'd you say to him?"

"I just started yelling at him. I've never done that before but it was so frustrating. We've always had great communication. I just didn't understand why he couldn't tell me the truth. I wanted to help him, Bokuto." 

Bokuto winced. He knew Kenma would not react well to Kuroo yelling at him. 

"I haven't seen him or heard from him in four days. He won't answer my calls or reply to my texts. I'm just so fucking scared he's gonna break up with me. I just want to go see him but he doesn't want to see me at all. He was in an abusive relationship before dating me and I think me yelling at him triggered something."

Bokuto was about to say something when there was a light knock on the door. 

"Tetsurou?" came Kenma's soft voice from the other side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, comments and kudos r very appreciated!! have a good day!


	12. Pinky Promise

Kuroo immediately shot up off of the couch and ran to the door. 

"Kenma?" he opened the door to find the shorter man standing alongside Hinata. 

"Hi," Kenma looked shy. It was certain that he was unsure how Kuroo would react to seeing him.

Kuroo didn't care. He quickly picked up his boyfriend, hugging him tightly out of fear that he would leave again. Kuroo wasn't going to let that happen. He wasn't going to let him go.

"I'm sorry," the man in his arms sniffled, "I don't know what I was thinking." 

"Shh, don't apologize. You're here now!" Kuroo held him even closer to his chest, softly running his fingers through his hair. 

Kuroo noticed that Kenma looked different. He pulled him farther away from him so that he could look closely at his face. 

Kenma stared at the black-haired man with a faraway look in his eyes. His skin appeared paler than before, the dark circles under his eyes more prominent. Kuroo saw that Kenma looked thinner too. Kenma was always underweight, but this was different. 

Hinata spoke up. "He uh-" he hesitated, "asked me to come up with him. Tobio drove us here and he's waiting outside. I should get going." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Kuroo stopped him. "Thank you." 

Hinata was about to say that it was no problem when his phone rang. 

"I'm coming Tobe!" he said a bit too loudly. Hinata sighed. "I gotta go. Bye guys!" 

Kuroo and Kenma watched as Hinata jogged down the hall. 

"I missed you."

The two looked at each other as they spoke at the same time. 

All anger that Kuroo had felt before had vanished. He just wanted Kenma to feel safe. He just wanted to be with him. He promised himself in that moment that he would never let Kenma go. 

"Can we talk about everything later?" Kenma suggested, "I'm kinda tired."

Kuroo followed his boyfriend into their apartment. "I'm making you food first."

\- - - 

Bokuto stayed for a while longer after the couple came back in. 

He instantly saw the change in Kuroo's mood. His friend was happy, and that's all the mattered. He didn't want to stick around too long, considering the other two had some things to work out. 

Kuroo and Kenma sat in comfortable silence as they ate the ramen that Kuroo had made them. The faraway look was no longer present in Kenma's eyes. He was comfortable. He was back home. 

About ten minutes after Bokuto left, Kuroo set down his bowl and looked expectantly to the man seated next to him.

Kenma side-eyed him and took one more bite before setting his bowl down next to Kuroo's. 

"I'm not really sure how to start," Kenma hesitated.

Kuroo inched closer to the other. "Start wherever you're comfortable. I want to know everything, especially anything I could do to help you. I want you to feel safe with me and I hope you know that ever since I yelled at you, the guilt of what I did has been eating me alive. I love you so much Kenma, and I never wanted to hurt you."

"It isn't you, Tetsurou. Yeah, the yelling kind of fucked things up more, but the problem is myself. I'm trying to get better and I just didn't wanna burden you with my issues. You have enough going on that I don't need you having more things to worry about. I thought distancing myself would give me space to figure myself out, so I went to Shoyou."

Kuroo nodded, allowing him to continue. 

"And, well, spending most of my time with Shoyou and Kageyama didn't really change much. It just put me in a different environment for a while. Apparently that's not what I needed, because honestly I kind of feel worse than before," he paused, "plus, Shoyou's great and everything he's just not the best when it comes to these things. You're the person I need right now," Kenma finished. 

"I'm glad the shorty didn't replace me as your favorite person yet," Kuroo wrapped his arms around the shorter man. He pulled him close to his chest and pressed a light kiss to his temple. "Just so you know, I'm not going anywhere and I'll be here for you no matter what. I want to be a part of your life until the very end and that means that we're in this together."

"How romantic," Kenma laughed, resting his head on the taller man's shoulder. 

"Aren't I?" Kuroo smirked. "But seriously, don't ever call yourself a burden. You're the love of my life and I want nothing more than to support you through thick and thin. Anything you need from me, you've got it. Just promise me that you'll always be honest with me. No more avoiding."

"I promise."

"No, you have to pinky promise me!" 

"You are a child."

The couple linked their pinkies together, promising that things would be better. 

And they meant it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> had to resolve the angst bc i <3 them


	13. Hope?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise i didn't forget about this fic

"Four hours!" Tendou yelled to the others as he threw one of his ripped t-shirts over his head. 

"What the fuck?" Bokuto whipped out his phone to check the time. "Holy shit you're right. I could've sworn we had more time!" 

"Are four whole hours not enough for you?" Tsukishima sat on the edge of the bed, calmly looking at his other bandmates who had been running around the apartment for the past two hours. 

"Times flies, Tsukki. Now get ready or we're leaving you behind!" Kuroo slung an arm over the blonde man's shoulder. 

"I take 20 minutes at most to get ready, please go bother Tendou," Tsukishima shrugged Kuroo's arm off of him and returned his glance to his phone. 

It was about 4 pm. The band was scheduled to play at 8. There was more than enough time to get everything ready. Though, I guess when you've never played a gig this big, every second counts. 

Bokuto's apartment was chosen to be the dressing room this time (mainly because his place had the most room, and more room = more chaos).

While Tsukishima sat on the bed, actively ignoring everyone else, the other three were throwing various articles of clothing all over the room. 

"I'm indecisive," Bokuto slumped to the floor, shirtless and wearing a pair of volleyball-print boxers. "Kuroo, pick my outfit for me."

"On it!" the black-haired man stood in front of the closet for approximately 15 seconds before pulling out a sickeningly fluorescent neon green shirt. 

The shirt had been shittily cut, both the sleeves and the bottom much shorter than it originally was. The front of the t-shirt, in black, bold lettering, wrote "Real Kings Are Born In February". 

"Bo," Kuroo raised the horrific shirt up to the others, "B-Bokuto, what the fuck is this?" 

The silence that followed Kuroo's question was deafening. 

In approximately ten seconds, Kuroo was doubled over on the ground, Tendou was holding onto the dresser for support, and Tsukishima was struggling to breathe. Nothing could have prepared them for the knowledge that Bokuto personally owned a shirt like that. Quite frankly, it shouldn't have been that surprising. The thing that threw them off the most was the fact that Bokuto was born in September. 

"Did you buy that yourself?" Tsukishima managed after his laughing fit, "or was that given to you as a gift from someone who didn't know when your birthday was?"

Bokuto grabbed the god awful article of clothing from the still-dying Kuroo in front of him. "I wish I could tell you guys where this came from, but I have no recollection of buying, receiving, or even owning this shirt," he laughed. "But since you all seem to be so fond of it, I might just wear it tonight!"

"NO!" Tendou and Tsukishima pleaded simultaneously. "With all due respect, I do not think I will be able to play if you are wearing that in my presence," Tsukishima explained. 

"I'm only saying no because we can't have you wearing something so tastefully stylish while we're dressed so plainly," Tendou suggested, pointing at his own outfit. 

Bokuto held a hand to his heart in mock hurt. "Tsukki that is horrible to say, but Tendou I'm afraid I have to agree. I can't show you guys up; it wouldn't be the right thing to do!" 

Tsukishima sighed in relief, returning his focus back to his phone.

"None of you are any help, I'm just gonna go shirtless," Bokuto shrugged, making his way to the bathroom so he could begin fixing his hair. 

He'd allowed himself to grow out his hair quite a bit since high school ended, his hair being long enough that he needed to wear a headband when playing volleyball. To the shock of everyone who had known Bokuto for years, he'd also stopped gelling his hair up in its signature spiky style. Though, there were a few occasions when Bokuto would put in the effort to spike his hair up like he used to. Overall, he looked pretty different from his high school self; more muscular, taller, and attractive in general. 

Bokuto pushed the hair that fell almost over his eyes back with one of his black sports headbands so that he'd be able to properly see without having to tie his hair up. He figured that he might as well go shirtless, considering he would've ended up stripping down to minimal clothing halfway into the concert anyways. He was already wearing a pair of black jeans, nearly too tight for him but still breathable. 

"Tendou, where's your makeup bag my face feels boring," Bokuto strolled out of the bathroom. Tsukishima laid exactly where he was previously, the other two bandmates hunched over Bokuto's tiny mirror that sat on his desk. 

Bokuto walked over to his desk, grabbing a few items out of Tendou's makeup bag and watched Tendou apply white eyeliner to Kuroo's waterline, trying not to permanently blind him. He peered into his mirror, applying black eyeliner to his own eyes. Bokuto wasn't necessarily skilled at makeup, so he just put a good amount of pencil liner underneath his eyes and smudged it with his finger. 

"Can I use your mascara?" he glanced over at Tendou, who was still busy with Kuroo. 

"Yeah, I have like four different tubes in here," Tendou replied, digging through the bag again to pull out various mascara tubes and handing them to Bokuto. 

"Bokuto, that is foul," Tsukishima's face twisted in disgust as he watched him shittily apply the dark mascara to his lashes. "Isn't mascara, like, the number one thing you're not supposed to share?" 

Bokuto hummed in response, showing his lack of concern. "Okay, I think I'm done," he finished by applying a clear lipgloss and turning to the others for approval. 

Kuroo, who had also just gotten done getting ready, clapped his hands together. "Bo, you look great. If I was not a loyal man I would give you a kiss!"

"You have kissed me multiple times?" Bokuto squinted at him, but accepted the compliment with a grin. 

"I don't hear anything," Kuroo replied simply before turning his focus to Tsukishima, who had not moved in about two hours. 

Tsukishima stared at him for a moment and sighed, finally moving his ass off the bed to get ready. 

They still had about two hours to kill, so Bokuto took this opportunity to relax. He dug his phone out of his pocket, casually scrolling through his social media. There was a lot of advertising for the concert, thanks to all of their friends. 

Kuroo's close friend Oikawa, who was practically famous at their college and surrounding colleges, had posted multiple times about the concert, saying he would take free pictures with his fans if they went. As fucking annoying as Oikawa was, his post seemed to be effective, as there were about a thousand comments (mostly from his fangirls) saying they'd be going. Oikawa demanded that him and his boyfriend be invited to the after-party, in return for his generous deed. 

As much as Bokuto loved the concerts themselves, after-parties were almost always the highlight. 

Time passed by slowly as the four men mentally prepared themselves for the biggest concert they were ever about to play. Bokuto wasn't one to get affected by nerves, but he was silently freaking the fuck out, both in fear and excitement. 

The time was 6:30 now, meaning it was time for them to head to the venue. With traffic, it was gonna take them a while to get there, seeing that the venue was located in one of the busiest parts of Tokyo.

They took Tsukishima's car, since it was the biggest and Tsukishima was also the best driver of the group. The lengthy car ride gave Bokuto plenty of time to panic and reassure himself over and over again. 

Bokuto was in a state of self-reassurance when his mind flooded with unlikely scenarios that could potentially happen during the night; from him being recognized by a famous guitarist to meeting a pretty stranger. 

He shook the thought from his head, not wanting to get his hopes up. 

Because the possibility of falling in love with a stranger was totally unlikely... right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> imagine me updating frequently.. i am so sorry  
> next chapter will be out soon tho!


	14. The Rock Show: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've had unbelievable sakuatsu brainrot for so long.. they're my favorite ship and i do not think the brainrot will go away. so when rock show is finished, expect some sakuatsu writing!
> 
> anyways here is an update!

“Kuroo, if you play that song one more goddamn time I am going to swerve into uncoming traffic,” Tsukishima’s gaze was glued to the road in front of him, but Bokuto could see his eye twitching out of annoyance. 

The four of them had listened to Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne approximately five times. Kuroo had attempted to change the lyrics to "Tsukki's Mom" in which Tsukishima responded to by throwing a water bottle at his head. They expected to arrive at their destination within the next hour. Bokuto had plenty of time to overthink the entire night, but he mentally slapped himself and refused to let his nerves get the best of him. 

The hour went by way too fast. 

The band arrived at the stadium, giving themselves at least two hours for preparation. This was the biggest show they've ever played, so god forbid they have technical difficulties. 

There were already a few small groups of people hanging around the venue. Bokuto's eyes scanned the area, looking for any familiar faces. His gaze landed on a tall, brunette man talking loudly to a slightly shorter man with black, spiky hair. Of course, Oikawa and his boyfriend showed up early. 

Kuroo spotted the couple second, waving his arm above his head to get their attention. As if the 6'2 man dragging behind him a bundle of wires to connect to the speakers wasn't noticeable enough. 

Surely enough, Oikawa grabbed his boyfriend's hand, pulling him over to the group. 

"Kuroo!" he beamed, "I thought you'd appreciate Hajime and I getting here early in case you needed any help."

The man accompanying Oikawa freed his hand from his grip. "What he means is that he's going to sit on his ass and watch while you guys set up. I'm Iwaizumi-" he cut himself off, attention suddenly on Tsukishima, who was trailing behind the rest of the band. "Aren't you the guy who I had an unusually lengthy conversation about King Kong vs. Godzilla with at Nishinoya's party a few months ago?" 

Tsukishima looked dumbfounded, but after a second realized that the man was indeed familiar. "Yeah, that would be me. It's impressive that you remember that," he blushed. 

Iwaizumi shrugged. "Good memory I guess," he turned his attention back to Kuroo who was silently laughing at the interaction. Seeing Tsukishima flustered was a rare but golden thing. "Anyways, since he's no help," a quick glance was shot at Oikawa who stuck his tongue out at him, "you can just let me know if you need help with the set up." 

"I'm a great help!" Oikawa protested, lightly hitting his boyfriend's arm. "Yeah, yeah okay," he turned to face the taller man. "Your mascara is fucked up c'mere," Iwaizumi frowned and licked his thumb to fix his boyfriend's seemingly fine makeup. 

"Hajime-" the brunette swatted his hands in front of his face, "my mascara is fine you're annoying!" Iwaizumi grinned, successfully pissing off the other. 

Bokuto watched the couple interact from beside Kuroo, smiling at the sweetness of their antics. He was also reminded just how painfully single he was. 

"We're gonna go start setting shit up before the place gets crowded," Kuroo scooped up the mess of wires he'd been carrying. "Feel free to join us, or sit back and observe in Oikawa's case." He made his way to the stage before Oikawa could react. 

Tendou was the first to get his kit set up. The drums were always easy to work with; not a lot of wires or other electrical components to worry about. The red-haired man pulled the wooden sticks out of his bag and set them on the stool before strolling over to where Tsukishima was very obviously struggling with his bass guitar. 

"Every show, huh?" was Tendou's way of assisting the frustrated man before him. 

"If you're not going to help me, get out before I throw this guitar at your head," Tsukishima said through gritted teeth. 

Tendou took the guitar from his hands and attached all of the necessary wires in under a minute. His work was thanked with a blank stare and various insults muttered under Tsukishima's breath.

The other two members were doing fine with the set up of their instruments. Kuroo had the least amount of work, as he was only dealing with a microphone. Bokuto attached the wires to his guitar and back to the huge speakers behind them. 

"If we're done, can we do a few practice runs?" Bokuto walked over to the others to see how they were doing. Everyone was ready. 

"Well, that's usually what a band does before a show, isn't it?" Tsukishima deadpanned. 

"Insufferable as always! You're so charming Tsukki," Bokuto smirked. "Yamaguchi is so lucky to have you!"

Tsukishima pursed his lips and suddenly became very interested in the small spec of glitter next to his foot. 

"Okay, practice run!" Kuroo interjected. "Oikawa," he looked to the man lounging on the ground in front of the stage. "Request a song!" 

Oikawa squinted his eyes in thought and yelled, "Call Me by Blondie!" Good choice. 

"Thank you!" Kuroo nodded to his bandmates. They had a wide assortment of rock/punk classics and Blondie was very popular within that mix. 

"1, 2, 3, 4!" he shouted as Tendou hit his drumsticks together in beat. 

They finished the song, satisfied with the sound quality and range. The music was definitely loud enough to be heard far away and over the noise of audience. 

Oikawa yelled a string of praises while Iwaizumi applauded politely beside him. Both were positive reactions.

An hour passed and the band played a few more songs until they decided that they were confident enough. By now, the venue was starting to fill like crazy. They knew there would be a lot more people than they're used to but- holy shit. It was a good time to head backstage and review the setlist for the hundredth time and wait until the show was supposed to officially begin.

The four of them knew the setlist by heart. They've played through it at least a hundred times in the past few months. Nerves settled, the band moved to the room located further backstage. 

The room was a small space with two couches and a few chairs in the center. There were mirrors lining the walls with stations for hair and makeup directly under them. There was a bathroom, which surprisingly contained a shower. Overall, a tight but convenient room. It's not like the after-party was going to be held there. They'd already rented out a club for that. 

"I'm really fucking with the mini-fridge," Tendou was crouched down in the corner of the room trying to find an outlet to plug in said fridge. 

"What do you even need the fridge for?" Tsukishima sat on the couch, scrolling through his phone. 

"Very tiny bottles of Fireball Whisky?" Tendou looked at the other man like this was obvious. "What else?" 

"Why do I even bother asking?" Tsukishima mumbled, mostly to himself. 

The four men stayed in the room for probably thirty minutes when Kuroo pushed himself off the couch and stood with his hands on his hips to face the others. 

"I believe the time has come, gentlemen," he said seriously, making sure he had all three pairs of eyes on him. "Should you like to take a shot to calm your nerves before we head out, be my guest." Tendou grinned and strolled over to the mini-fridge. They didn't have shot glasses so a swig from the little whisky bottles would have to do.

They passed around the mini bottles, each taking a swig- some longer than others. It was time to go. 

"I'm really proud of you guys," Kuroo looked sincerely at his bandmates. Bokuto punched his arm playfully. "You're such a sap!" 

"Hey!" Kuroo frowned, "let me be genuine for a minute here! I really am so proud of you guys and the progress we've made the past few months. This is a big moment and I wouldn't want to share it with anyone but you three." He smiled at the others- Tsukishima trying to fight back a grin. 

"Now, let's go." 

They weren't sure what hit them first: the blinding stage lights or the deafening roar of the audience. Either way, it was powerful enough that all four men had never felt so overwhelmed with emotion. They'd been working towards this moment for a long time, and they were going to make it count. 

Kuroo grabbed the mic from its stand and scanned the audience, looking for no one in particular. It was much too dark to see anything, but he could at least tell that there were hundreds of people. He had Oikawa to thank for the turnout, but he also took pride in the talent of his band. 

He stepped up to the front of the stage- almost dangerously close to the edge. Mic in hand, Kuroo took one final glance at the drummer, bassist, and guitarist. They nodded in unison. 

Kuroo faced the crowd again. He took one more deep breath and- 

"WE ARE 1-4-5-11 AND WE'RE HERE TO PLAY MUSIC AND ROCK YOUR FUCKING NIGHT!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they all love each other i swear. kudos + comments are always appreciated! <3


End file.
